Non-Emergency Patient Transport

Non-Emergency Patient Transport in Surrey (NEPTS)

NEPTS provides transport for patients who have a medical reason that means they are not able to travel for treatment by another method. It includes the following journeys:

To a planned outpatient appointment

To hospital for a planned admission

Home from hospital following your discharge

Home to the Surrey area from hospitals in other areas of the country

What's changing on 1 April 2017?

Making Bookings

You can book your transport through the NEPTS Patient Zone (see below), or

By calling the Central Booking Line on 0300 123 9840 between 08:00 and 18:00, Monday to Friday

Please note: your first NEPTS journey must be booked by a healthcare professional or by calling the Central Booking Line. You can the use the NEPTS Patient Zone to book subsequent journeys, manage your booked and check your journey status. You can find the NEPTS Patient Zone at www.scas.nhs.uk/nepts in the 'Manage my booking online' section, or by going direct to https://managemybooking.scas.nhs.uk/patientzone

If you are hearing impaired and use a service such as Typetalk you can call the Central Booking Line through them, and we will process your booking as usual.

You will need to have the following information with you in order to make a NEPTS booking:

Name

NHS number

Date of Birth

Home address and contact phone number

GP Practice

Mobility and care requirement

Relevant health issues

Care package details

Home access information, including key codes if applicable

Date and time of travel required

'From' and 'to' destinations, including specific clinic details if appropriate

When you book your journey you can request the following SMS Text notifications (or voice message to your landline if you don't have a mobile phone) to be sent to you:

Confirmation of your journey, to be sent to you between 24 and 48 hours in advance of your journey

A message to tell you that your vehicle is on the way

Who is eligible for NEPTS?

The NEPTS service is only available to eligible patients. You are considered eligible if:

Your medical condition is such that you require the skills and support of NEPTS staff during or after your journey, and/or it would be detrimental to your condition or recovery to travel by other means.

Your medical condition affects your mobility to such an extent that you would be unable to access healthcare and/or it would be detrimental to your condition or recovery to travel by other means.

You may also travel if you are the recognised parent or guardian of a child being transported by NEPTS. You are not eligible if:

You are not attending a primary care service, such as routine GP or health centre appointment

You are not an NHS patient

You require transport outside England, Scotland and Wales

What are my options if I am not eligible?

If you are ineligible for NEPTS we will direct you to the local council who have details of alternative transport options in your local area, such as voluntary transport groups (Send Help & Ripley Good Neighbours), private taxis or public transport. The Healthcare Travel Costs Scheme may also provide help with the cost of fares: see www.nhs.uk/nhsengland/healthcosts/pages/travelcosts.aspx

What are my responsibilities?

In order for us to provide an efficient and timely service to all our patients we ask that you please:

Make sure that you are ready on time so that there are no unnecessary delays when we collect you

Answer all questions relating to the eligibility criteria as accurately as possible and make sure that you have your NHS number to hand (this is often show on your appointment letter, or is available from your GP)

Make us aware as soon as possible if your appointment is cancelled, you no longer require your transport or you need to amend your booking in any way